1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the storage of data and in particular to the storage of data in removable media data storage units.
2. Related Applications
This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/230,690 entitled “Hard Disk System With Non-Volatile IC Based Memory For Storing Data” having inventors Ronald W. Stance and John P. Hansen, having an assignee of Freescale Semiconductor Inc., and having a filing date of Aug. 29, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/230,788 entitled “Data Storage System Having A Non-Volatile IC Based Memory For Storing User Data” having inventors Ronald W. Stence, John P. Hansen, and David A. Hayner, having an assignee of Freescale Semiconductor Inc., and having a filing date of Aug. 29, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
This application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 6,646,948 entitled “Data Storage System Utilizing A Non-Volatile IC Based Memory For Reduction Of Data Retrieval Time” having inventors Ronald W. Stance and John P. Hansen, having an assignee of Freescale Semiconductor Inc., and having a filing date of Aug. 29, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
3. Description of the Related Art
Data storage media are used for the storage of data. Examples of data storage media include integrated circuit based storage media such a magno resistive random access memory (MRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), flash memory, electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), and programmable read only memory (PROM). Examples of non integrated circuit based media include magnetic based storage media such as magnetic hard disks, tape, and floppy disks; optical based systems such as compact disk (CD) and digital video disk (DVD); and magneto-optic media. The non IC based memory types set forth above are mechanical in nature in that they require a mechanical operation (e.g. rotating a disk, moving a tape) to retrieve the data.
The data access time for IC based media is typically significantly faster than the access time for non IC based media. However, the cost per bit of data storage for non IC media is typically significantly less than that of IC based media. Accordingly, non IC based media are typically utilized for the “mass storage” of data.
The access time limitations utilizing non IC based media can reduce the operating efficiency of a system utilizing the media. What is needed is a system to improve the operating efficiency of non IC based media.
Furthermore with respect to removable media storage units, data that used for accessing data from a removable media is typically not non-volatilely stored in the removable media data storage system once the removable media is removed. Consequently, such information must be reaccessed when the removable media is reinserted.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates identical items unless otherwise noted.